FIG. 2.
Inhibition of HTLV-1 Env-mediated syncytium formation by polyanions. (a) Visible-light images of HeLa cells either transfected with a GFP-encoding plasmid only (top panels) or cotransfected with GFP- and HTLV-1 Env-encoding plasmids, leading to the formation of multinucleated syncytia (bottom panels). Original magnification values are indicated. (b) Percent inhibition of syncytium formation by PRO 2000, D2S, DexS, and Dex serially diluted threefold from an initial concentration of 100 μM. (c) Percent inhibition by the fusion inhibitor peptide Pcr-400, the corresponding negative control peptide P-80, and the peptide solvent agent DMSO. (d) Percent inhibition by HAM/TSP patient sera and NHS. All dilutions were performed in triplicate, and the fluorescent cells in at least 10 randomly selected microscopic fields for each sample were counted. Graphs show representative mean values from one of two independently performed experiments, and error bars represent ±1 SD.